forty before forty

Originally written in 2017

Happy birthday to me. Not yet forty but it’s creeping up (730 days) so it think it is time to publish the forty before forty list and get this party started. Some are very ambitious (like #10), some are scary (like #11), and some are just pure crazy (like #8) but why not dream big? Wish me luck!

forty before forty

Take piano lessons (I quit after one year – my sisters are beautiful players and I’ve come to regret dropping out).
See Hawaii – it has been my dream to take David to Hawaii for his 10th birthday since the day he was born. He will turn 10 less than two months before my 40th so the timing will be tight but I am sure Mike can make this happen.
Make some pottery – take a class.
Get a tattoo. Hah! Where the heck did that come from?
Make a move. Not sure if it will be career or school or a move to the country but I like the idea.
Sail away – even if it’s just around the Armdale.
WALLPAPER my itty bitty bathroom.
Bangs. Try them out.
Rent a cottage with some lady-friends for +2 nights and drink way too much wine.
Scuba dive. Ideally off the Florida Keys. With Kyle Chandler.
Get up on stage (or a podium).
Buy a silk blouse. I’m thinking a nice deep midnight blue button down.
Try Whole 30. It’s just 30 days… how terrible can it be?
Sip sweet tea in the South like a Georgia Peach.
Take tennis lessons.
Go to the ballet in a big city.
Get eyelash extensions.
Make a batch of wine. I promise, it won’t be low class and I promise I will not force you to drink it.
Run a Spring marathon (I’ve run September, October and Novembers only)
Get a new personal best in a marathon (which would be sub 3:56:00)
Learn and preform the full Footloose dance.
Try snowboarding *again.
Buy watercolours. Watercolour.
Attend an epic festival, concert or event (like Mardi Gras, The Beach Boys in California, Running of the Bulls, etc.)
Donate plasma.
Ride in a helicopter (ideally while visiting #2)
Volunteer.
Get a reading done by a psychic medium.
Go to a drive-in movie.
Explore a new country.
Read a novel in one weekend.
Take a solo vacation.
Host a holiday dinner or a murder mystery party.
Change a tire. Change the oil. Learn these skills.
Scoot around on a scooter and end up at the ocean.
Attend a retreat or workshop of some sort.
Dip my toes in Lake Louise.
Complete the World Marathon Majors (halfway there!)
Which means I need to qualify for Boston.
Party like it’s 1979.

xomeg

fifty is the new forty

Originally written in 2019

Two years ago I launched a very ambitious list of forty things to do before forty. Here I am, turning forty in three days and as I review my accomplishments, the big lesson I learned is that things don’t always go as planned. Who could have predicted the Footloose video tutorial I was practicing daily would one day suddenly disappear from Vimeo!

I hate making excuses but I feel a bit derailed right now and frankly, these last 6 months have sucked. So, I look at this as an opportunity to scrape myself off the ground and move forward. I’ve been told that the forties are better than the thirties so I am editing the list. I wrote this on a whim, giving myself only two years, which was not so smart. Adding another ten years is something a mature woman of her forties would do. Let’s not rush the good times!

forty before forty fifty before fifty

Take a photography class.
Vacation afar with Erin and Jill.
Attend a retreat. Who’s in?
Stay overnight in an A-Frame.
Go line dancing in Texas.
Choose a cookbook, cook everything.
Have an (all day) spa day with friends.
Choose an actor and watch their full IMDB profile (current contenders: Michael B. Jordan or Winona Ryder)
Launch something… New website, new project. Who knows?
Open water swim in water deeper than me.

Later 39.

xomeg

40 things i know

Guys, I’m forty! Trying hard not to freak out – I don’t feel forty and from a distance, I don’t think I look forty. Right?

As a kid, when the parents in our neighbourhood turned forty there were parties and crazy-shenanigans going down and I clearly remember thinking they were so old but damn, forty looks fun. So I’m channeling the parents of Frame Subdivision, holding my middle-age head up high and diving into the next decade. F*#k meditation, I think a daily dose of Coach Taylor is the key to my survival.

40 things I’ve learned so far… (or is it forty things I’ve learnt so far?)

Remember to question your own rules, too.
There is always someone better but own what you know.
Need to smile, find a dog.
Painted nails can turn things around.
Take tons of pictures, but edit before posting.
Write it down or take a screenshot.
It’s okay to judge a book by its cover (or wine by its label).
Pie is better than cake.
Choose joy when you can.
Audiobooks are acceptable. Sometimes better (Becoming by Michelle Obama). Same goes for movies but less often (Call Me By Your Name).
I’m not a great cook, but I love entertaining. I don’t entertain because I am insecure about my cooking.
If you don’t have time to visit the museum, go to the gift shop. You’ll get the gist.
It’s never too late to make new friends.
Choices at age twenty may not and do not need to hold up.
Travel. Immerse.
Teamwork is effective.
When camping, always bring a pot.
Sometimes it’s okay to be nosey; it means you’re not selfish.
Share but know that people suck at keeping secrets.
Always have a karaoke song ready. Act accordingly.
You have to get back on the horse that threw you.
Mail it. It means more.
Wear layers. Bring hand warmers.
Ask yourself ‘just who the heck do you think you are?’ in a very non-rhetorical way every once in a while. The answer is important. ― Joy The Baker
You’re stronger than you think you are. Other’s know this more than you.
Break things down in fives (5 minutes, 5 crunches, 5 km); it will make things feel more bearable.
It’s okay to jump on the bandwagon late as long as you arrive with passion (Veronica Mars, Twilight) and it’s okay to brag about the things you knew way ahead of others (Ryan Gosling’s swag in Breaker High, Friday Night Lights, and Serial … when you had to wait a week for a new episode)
Stretch.
At a loss, have eggs for supper.
If the photograph is terrible, change it to black and white.
Signing up for the first step.
Night swimming and skinny dipping. (R.E.M. was on to something special)
Beauty products likely don’t work but splurge if it makes you feel better.
Set BIG goals.
But prepare for BIG failure.
My opinions are not always the same as your opinions (houses and fonts).
When you’re prepared to wait, you won’t have to.
Embrace and protect alone time.
Choose the more comfortable option when it comes to clothing, but do not choose the more comfortable option when it comes to life.
“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” ― Dita Von Teese

But honestly, just listen to Brené Brown, she knows way more!